By Cort Reynolds
ELIDA - Ada jumped ahead of Wayne Trace and held off a late rally to win 4-2 in Div. IV softball district semifinal action at Elida Wednesday evening.
The second-seeded Lady Bulldogs improved to 16-8 with the victory, which broke the program single-season record for wins.
The victory sets up an all-Northwest Conference district final. Second-seeded Ada next will face Columbus Grove (18-4) with a berth in the regional semis at Findlay on the line.
The two Bulldog squads will collide at the Elida middle school diamond Friday, May 18 at 5 p.m. CG was seeded first in the 10-team district, just ahead of Ada.
Ada beat Grove 10-4 at CG May 3.
WT, which went 4-3 in the Green Meadows Conference, saw its record drop to 12-10 with the season-ending defeat.
Ada senior shortstop Olivia Alexander sparked a third inning rally with a well-placed bunt single. She later scored on a double ripped to the gap by senior Sydney Newland.
WT trailed 4-0 going into the sixth inning, but scored two runs on a bases-loaded single. But that was all they could muster off freshman hurler Leona Dalton (13-8).
Grove defeated Lincolnview 8-1 in the first district semifinal Wednesday at Elida. CG also previously beat the Lancers (9-12) by a count of 14-2 on April 12.
The Ada/Grove survivor will meet either top-seeded Tinora or third seed Ayersville out of the Bryan district in Findlay at the Div. IV regional semis Wednesday, March 23 at 5 p.m. at the Marathon Diamonds.
The regional finals in Findlay will be at noon on Saturday, May 26
